Promises, Promises

Based on the Screenplay by Billy Wilder and I.A.I. Diamond
Music by Burt Bacharach – Lyrics by Hal David
Book by Neil Simon

Performance Dates: November 10-12, 17-19, 24-26, and December 1-2, and 3, 2017

Produced in Cooperation with Tams-Witmark Music Library, Inc.

The Show

Meet Chuck Baxter, an ambitious employee of Consolidated Life Insurance Company on his way up. As a bachelor, Chuck has what some of his colleagues desire: an apartment for hanky-panky. With the promise of promotion dangled before him, Chuck lends these senior executives his place for their extramarital trysts. But Chuck becomes more than a little conflicted when he learns that Fran Kubelik, the object of his affection, is the mistress of his boss, the man who holds the key to both Chuck’s flat and his future.

Liner Notes

On December 1, 1968, Promises, Promises, the musical version of Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond’s The Apartment, opened at the Shubert and took Broadway by storm. The show was such a breath of fresh air, with its hilarious book by Neil Simon, and pop-sounding and brilliant score by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. When that overture began, you knew the sound of Broadway had just changed forever – it was electric in the best way. – Bruce Kimmel